A review by sammy234
The Becoming of Noah Shaw by Michelle Hodkin

4.0

A good author can create something original once and use that old hat material for years. A great author can continue to create original things with every book.

Michelle Hodkin is a great author.

I think a lot of people will dislike this book, because it's not happy or romantic at all. It's nothing like Mara's trilogy and people might be put out by that.

Instead of being in the craziness of Mara's head, we are now in her boyfriend Noah's. And it's a sad, sad place to be in.

I've always swooned over Noah. He loves Mara like crazy and he's composed and chivalrous and witty and honest.

But this book put him in an entire different light. Noah is so devastated by life and he is depressed and surprisingly, even though he has Mara and still loves her like crazy... he's lonesome.

I really felt his honorable, secretive heart in this book and I fell in love with him again but not because he did anything particularly swoonworthy.

Let me just clear this up. This book is NOT ROMANTIC.

The love between Mara and Noah is still a driving factor in the absolutely thrilling plot, but this is more a book about distrusting those you love and distrusting what you want out of life.

It's about the sadness of the hero after the final showdown is done and the evil is defeated. This is a somber book. It's full of twists and suspense and small moments of quiet devastation and mind games.

It reveals how hard it is to love someone like Mara Dyer, and how hard Noah is trying to keep himself together.

He's no longer my infallible, endlessly composed and devoted book boyfriend of the past. He has real issues and the veil has been lifted. He's no longer perfect, but I prefer him like this. He's human.

I also want to give him hot chocolate and kiss him all over his scruffy, weary face. He's such a wonderful, depressed little munchkin and my heart broke for him throughout this whole book.

The writing was phenomenal and Michelle Hodkin is the now the only author I trust to write a companion trilogy in a male voice. I was skeptical, but this was great.

Also: Mara. Let's talk about Mara.

I always rolled my eyes in the original trilogy when people said that Mara was evil, because she almost always only acted out of self defense or to save an innocent.

But this book... wow. My girl's gone full psycho, and I am so here for it.

The end was heartbreaking and my ship is totally sinking but I believe (or I'm in denial) that Mara and Noah are through. They love each other too much.

Plus, they are my favorite psycho couple and I love them eternally.


Basically?
If you want the high romance of the first two installments of the Mara Dyer trilogy ( which I still love, don't get me wrong) then you might hate this.

But if you are looking for something original, no matter HOW much it hurts, then read this book. And fall in love with Noah. He's such a darling, did I mention?